


there's the thunder

by flimsy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Pining, tourfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-19 00:19:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flimsy/pseuds/flimsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their bus breaks down; Liam and Louis find something to do. </p><p> </p><p>  <i>“I just-” Liam shrugs and gives Paul a little foolish smile. “I just want to look at the stars for a bit? The sky is so clear out here.” Louis follows his gaze up and it’s true. He can’t remember ever seeing that many lights in the sky, stark against the perfect pitch black dark of the night. </i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>“There’s a lot,” he breathes out, fascinated and takes a step back to see more, heart racing when the sky inexplicably opens up, making him feel small. “Can I stay too? Paul, do we have a telescope?” </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	there's the thunder

The bus breaks down just two hours outside of Las Vegas; Louis is in his bunk, headphones in, scribbling stick figures and cats and dogs with hats into a small notebook, close to drowsing off, when a big bang from the back of the bus makes him jerk and hit his head against the top of his bunk.

“What was that?” Niall’s voice calls out from the bottom bunk and Louis tugs his earphones out of his ears and climbs to the floor, rubbing his head, skull sensitive where he knows he’ll bruise later. He sticks his head in Niall’s bunk and says, “Dunno.” Niall shrugs and looks up at him, curled up in a fuzzy blanket and with a furry hat on his head. “You do realise we’re in Nevada?” Louis continues. 

“I was sleeping,” Niall says like this is an explanation for anything at all. He yawns, stretches his arms and curls up again, eyes closing. 

“Hrmpf,” Louis says and closes the curtains; the bus swerves a little, upsetting his balance as he makes his way down the aisle towards the lounge, and then it stops moving entirely. He pushes the door open and finds Zayn and Harry curled up on the sofa, Zayn’s hands in Harry’s hair, a horror film playing on the telly. 

“What happened?” Louis says, frowning. 

Zayn looks up and shrugs, while Harry rubs his eyes, looking very barely awake. “I don’t know?” Zayn says and shakes his head a bit, then drops it back against the backrest of the sofa, pushes Harry’s fringe all the way into his face. “Lou could you get me a blanket?” he asks after a second and Louis rolls his eyes. 

“Get it yourself,” he snaps and strides past them, giving them a glare. The front of the bus is unoccupied, but the door is open and Louis climbs out, the Nevada night engulfing him in a wave of dry, warm air almost immediately. 

Their entire caravan, cars and buses have stopped, and their driver and Paul are standing by the side of their bus, inspecting the engine. It’s dark and Louis squints and wanders toward the group of people huddled around the back of the bus, his hands buried deeply in the pockets of his sweats. 

“Heya, Lou,” Paul says and turns toward him. “Woke you up?” 

Louis nods, feeling drowsy, and bends down to take a look at the engine as if he knows what’s what. “Do we have to stop here?” he asks and yawns. He wants to go lie down again and sleep because he knows in a few hours he’ll have to be up again, preparing for an interview or rehearsing and he’s just so bloody tired. 

Paul nods. “But just that one bus. You boys get to ride with the band.”

“Oh,” Louis says because he hadn’t considered that. He looks up when steps come from around the bus and watches Liam approach, looking as sleepy as Louis feels. He’s in a T-shirt and sweatpants, too, scratching his head. 

“Hey, Paul,” he says as he reaches them. “Do you think I could stay until the bus is fixed?” He leans against Louis, who barely catches himself against the bus, and wraps his arm around Louis’ waist, holding on. His hand is warm, big, and Louis purses his lips and tries not to lean into the touch too much. 

Paul sighs and gives Liam a look like he knows he can say no but it won’t matter. “Why’d you wanna do that, boy?”

“I just-” Liam shrugs and gives Paul a little foolish smile. “I just want to look at the stars for a bit? The sky is so clear out here.” Louis follows his gaze up and it’s true. He can’t remember ever seeing that many lights in the sky, stark against the perfect pitch black dark of the night. 

“There’s a lot,” he breathes out, fascinated and takes a step back to see more, heart racing when the sky inexplicably opens up, making him feel small. “Can I stay too? Paul, do we have a telescope?” 

Paul laughs and shakes his head. “ _No_ , we don’t. But alright, boys. I’m leaving a car in case they can’t fix whatever’s wrong with the bus. Louis, do my a favour, go fetch the others, ask them if they wanna come.” 

“Fine, fine,” Louis huffs and tears himself away. He jogs back inside the bus and wakes Niall, who grabs his things, not quite awake, and comes with Louis to wake Zayn and Harry who’ve fallen asleep on the sofa and only wake very grumpily and with lots of protest. 

They gather their stuff, blankets, pillows, phones, backpacks, and Louis hugs them goodbye and then lies down on the sofa, suddenly feeling sleepy again. He can hear somebody fiddling with the engine, the sound of cars and buses taking off, but drowses off anyway, half-asleep when Liam comes in and shakes him awake. 

“Hey, hey, Lou,” he says and Louis sits up, batting at his hand until Liam catches his wrist in his fingers. He’s smiling, Louis can see that in the half-dark of the lounge, and when he pulls Louis up he’s warm and very solid. 

“The stars, Louis,” Liam says. “Come on, I found something awesome.” 

“Pushy,” Louis grunts but follows anyway, letting his hand slip from Liam’s when they climb out of the bus. Paul and the driver have set up a big light where they’re working on the engine, but it only makes the darkness around them even darker. 

“Come on,” Liam says again. He leads Louis around to the back of the bus and then points at a narrow ladder leading up, pushing at Louis’ hips as if to tell him to get going. 

“Oh-kay.” Louis pulls himself up, Liam’s hands still on his waist, and starts climbing until he reaches the top of the bus. Liam follows a moment later and guides him through the darkness a little farther to the centre of the roof. 

“Here,” he says and Louis grabs his hand blindly, barely seeing, suddenly feeling a blanket under his hand. “Careful,” Liam continues, “there’s tea and biscuits, don’t knock those over.” 

Louis maneuvers around for a bit until his eyes get used to the scarce lighting, then lays down on the blanket Liam’s laid out for them. There’s little pillows that Liam must have snatched from the kitchenette bench, and a thermos of tea and a box of biscuits. Louis lies down on his back next to Liam, shivering despite the warmth. 

“It’s nice out here,” he says, looking up. He can’t see anything but the sky like this and it makes him feel dizzy and hyper aware, so he turns onto his side and watches Liam watch the stars. He can see the outline of his face, his round nose and soft mouth, and imagines he can see his lashes, too, Liam’s brown eyes and his smile. 

“It is,” Liam says belatedly. “It reminds me of home. I used to lie on my parents’ roof like that sometimes. Just looking up and like.” He stops and laughs and Louis feels something inside of him coil and uncoil, tight and yearning. “Like, waiting for a shooting star. I don’t believe in that at all, but still, I thought if I ever saw one, I’d try? Is that stupid?”

Louis shakes his head, but he’s not really listening anymore. He wants to lean over and kiss the words from Liam’s lips; he wants to feel Liam’s faint stubble against his own and he wants their noses to nudge together as they try and make it work. 

“Louis?” Liam says quite suddenly and Louis blinks and pulls back, heart pounding in his chest. “Are you listening?” 

Louis swallows tightly and nods slowly, then catches his bottom lip between his teeth. “What?” he manages. 

“I said ‘you missed a shooting star’,” Liam explains, pointing up. The night sky is silent, clear. “Isn’t it funny?” Liam elaborates. “Just when I was talking about it.”

Louis stares at him for a few more moments, then lies back down, rubbing his chest as though he can calm his racing heart like that. “Yeah,” he finally croaks out, afraid that his voice will give him away. “Really funny.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Em](http://hereholdthishandbasket.tumblr.com) for beta <3.


End file.
